Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-01-07
DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DTvINE's
SUNDAY SERMON.


they departed; and 10, the star, tohich thew
sdI0 in the east, tcent before them, til It
Stood oreT tOhere the young child lUds st
Mathew, Ii. 9
AT this season all Christendom celebrates
the incarnation. Step down out of the COM
Iortab.e surroundings in which YOU are into
chill December night in Bethlehem. Two
plain people hoteled in village barn after
walk OF eighty miles, too long for one in
poor health. No lords Of state waiting In an
ante-ehamber as at the birth Of other kings,
no messenger mounted at the doorway ready
10 herald the ad ent from city to city, no
Kindly medical attendance, no satin lined
cradle TO receive tire infantile guest, but
monarch born in ho telly called the House
OF =, the night with diamonded finger
pointing to the place, the Door of Heaven
swung wide open to look out, from orchestral
baton dripping overtures OF the Messiah,
nllnstrels of God standing on the lowest door
step OF Heaven to announce glory and good
VIII. Soon after the white bearded astrologers
kneel and from leathern pouch chink the
shekels, and from open sack exhale the tufts
OF tranklncense and rustic out the bundles
or myrrh. The looSened star the ESCAPED
doxology of celestials. Our world, lost
star, and another star rushing down the sky
that night to beckon it home again. All
that scene will yet make all nations keep
Christmas. Now, are there not some new
lessons coming from this old storyl Lessons
not hackneyed by Oft repeatedi Oh, yes.
Notice, first of all, it was a sidereal appear
ance. Lo, the star went before them. Why
not black cloud in the shape of hand or a
finger pointing down to the saared birth
place! Oh, cloud means trouble. The
world had had trouble enough. Why not a
shaft OF lightning quivering in the sky and
striking down to the sacred birthpla %!
Lightning means estructiou-writhing all
consuming destruction, and the world had
had destruction enough. 1t was a star.
mat means Joy, that means good cheer, that
means hope, that means ascendancy. A
star! That means creative power, for did
not the morning stars sing together when
the portfolio of worlds was opened! A star!
That means Defence for did not the stars in
their course fight against Sisera and for the
Lords people; A start That means brilliant
continuance, for are not the righteous to shine
as the stars forever and ever. Day-star On
high. Morning star of the Redeemer. That
unusual appearance in the sky that night
may have been a strange conjunction of
worlds. You know astronomers calculated
long years before it occurred the transit of
Venus, and they can sea a thousands years
ahead and can tell you what will be the con-
junction Of worlds in the year 1886, and so
they can calculate backward, and Christia n
astronomers go into a calculation and they
find that in what we call the year one there
was strange appearance in the Heavens;
and the infidel, re jecting the Bible and de-
spising Christianity, he goes into the same
calculation; and he is compelled to declare
that in the year one there was a strange ap-
pearance in the Heavens The Chinese record,
made up, of course, entirety independent of
the Word of God, declares that in what we
call the year one, there was strange appear
ance in the Heavens. That, after
all, it may have been a meteoric
appearance, such as you aud l have
sometimes witnessed, | stood on the plain
and l saw i'll the western heavens, some
years ago, meteor flash with such brillian-
cy and precision that thought then that if
had been on a hill as high as that of Bethle-
hem could have calculated within few
yards the place where it alighted In the
| University of Iowa and in the British Mu-
scum there are fragments of rock that have
been hurled oil from meteors as they went
trailing their glory on the sky So it does
not seem to me at all improbable, this sidereal,
or, if you will, this meteoric appearance on
that Christmas night Oh I am so glad that
it was not cloud Of threat but star Of
hope that shone that night. do not wonder
that the dying college student when he
caught a glimpse of that star, took his pen,
and the light seemed flashing from his fin
gers and the star seemed mourning its lustre
from his lips while Kirk White wrote those
immortal words:
When marshaled on the nightly plain,
The glittering host bestud the sky;
One star alone of all the train
Could fix the sinners wandering eye,
Hark, bark to God, the chorus breaks
From every host, from every gem;
But one alone the Saviour speaks,
| 1t is the star of Bethlehem.
Once on the raging sea rode,
The storm was loud, the night was dark,
And rudely blew the wind that tossed
| My laundering bark.
Deep low within my vitals froze
| Death struck ceased the tide to stem,
When suddenly star arose,
1t was the star of Bethlehem.
- People are sorry that Kirk White died af.
ter writing that. 1t was enough for life
time to have written 1t, and no wonder when
he completed it the glories of Heaven swal-
lowed him up.
notice also in that scene that other worlds
seemed to adore our Lord and Master. Bright
star of night, wheel on in thine orbit "No, "
says the star, 81 must come nearer, 1 must
bend, | must wat2h TO see what they will do
with Jesus" Another world in worship
That star bowed in obedience. / sometimes
hear people talk as though the few thousand
miles of this wor Of ours We're all of the
Savior's dominion; but suppose all the mil
lions and billions and quadrillious OF world
Rre tnhabited-perhaps not by such crea
dedgned, and all those worlds are
the eaviOur's realm Only one disloya
world In tho universe. You know tina
the great organ Of the universe with it
stops, its keys, its pedals, its pipes, had ,
complete harmony save one injured pedal
save one broken key, the vo1 hpmana of tn
human race. This disloyal world. Yol
HH1nt hot
there is one broken key it spoils the harmony
And Christ is to mend this broken key, ,and re
store this injured pedal, and the world will b
| in accord. and all worlds will be in accord
Isle OF Wight, larger in comparison with tht
British Empire than our world is compared
with Christ's dominion. That Christina
night astronomy surrendered to Christ
Our planet for Christ. The sola,
system for Christ Worlds abla1
and worlds burned out - all worlds fo
Christ. Minutest and keenest microscop
cannot see the one side of Christ's dominion
and understanding telescope cannot SCI
the other side of Christs dominion. But
will tell you how the universe is bounded
1t Is bounded on the north and south, AM
east and west by God and God is Christ, AM
Christ is God, and that God is ours. Oh
my friends, Goes it not enlarge your ideas o
a Saviours dominion to realize that all tn
worlds are only SO many sparks struck iron
His anvili That the worlds are so man
fiee2y hocks following the one shepherd
That all the islands of light in immensity ar
a great archipelago of Christ's dominion9
But Inotice also in this science that have
spoken Of the fact that it was the profounC
and the learned men of the world who came
to Christ The Bible says the wise men o
the East. We call them the magi the as
trologers, the alehemists, and we pronounc
their names with depreciating accentua
tion Do you know who they werel The,
were the most splendid and magnificent mel
of the century. They knew all that wa
known. Do you not recognize the fact tina
astrology is the mother Of astronomy d
you not recognize the fact that alchemy /
the mother Of chemistryi And you do no
despise the mother because you admire th
child. Why these astrologers spent thei